Name: Island of Cyprus Olive Bread
Yield: Makes a 1½-pound Loaf
Cuisine: Cyprus
Ingredients: 1½ teaspoons rapid-rise yeast; ¾ cup stone-ground whole-wheat flour (4 ounces); ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons for coating; 2 teaspoons sesame seeds; ½ teaspoon sugar; Coarse semolina or fine cornmeal for dusting; 2 cups unbleached bread flour (9¾ ounces), sifted; ½ cup minced onion; ¾ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro; ½ cup oil-cured black olives (3 ounces), pitted

Preparation info

Makes a
1½ pound
Loaf

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking

By Paula Wolfert

Published 2009

About

This excellent Mediterranean olive bread is found only in the Larnaca district of Cyprus, where it is baked in a beehive oven. Here I use either a Romertopf clay baker or a La Cloche stoneware domed baker as a substitute. The dough requires a great deal of olive oil, accounting for the belief that the women of Larnaca have beautiful hands from their kneading of it. You can try for beautiful hands by hand-kneading, or (as I do) knead the dough in a food processor.

This moist, chewy,